1. Introduction

The Czech Republic is a
land-locked country in Central Europe. It is a relatively small country
(surface 78 thousand sq km), neighbouring Germany in the West, Poland in the
North, Slovakia in the East and Austria in the South.

The Czech Republic is one of the
two successor states established in 1993 upon the peaceful and negotiated
dissolution of the Czechoslovakia (the other successor being the Slovak
Republic). The Czechoslovak Republic was in turn created following the
break-down of the Austria-Hungary in 1918.

Since 1st May 2004, the
Czech Republic is a member of the European Union.
Since 1999, the Czech Republic is a member of NATO.

The capital of the Czech Republic
is Prague (Art. 13 of the Czech Constitution). The legislature, the head of
state and the most of the executive is located in the capital. The “capital” of
the judiciary is however the city of Brno, where both Supreme courts are
located (Supreme Court as well as Supreme Administrative Court), the
Constitutional Court and other judiciary related offices (Supreme State
Prosecutor’s Office, the Ombudsman etc.).

National currency is the Czech
Crown (koruna). The Czech Republic intends to join the Single European Currency
(Euro). No precise date has however been set yet.

The Czech Republic is a unitary
state. The only official language is Czech. Czech belongs to the Slavic
language family.

The population of the Czech
Republic is about 10.2 million people (2006 est.).

2. The
Czech Political and Legal System in a nutshell

The Czech legal system is a
“continental” legal system, more specifically, due to common historical roots,
it can be said to belong to the “Germanic” legal culture. The characteristics
of the legal system are the following ones:

·principle areas of law
and procedure are codified (Civil and Criminal Codes, Codes of Criminal, Civil
and Administrative Procedure etc.);

·the system of legal
sources is hierarchical, forming a pyramidal structure of legal force within
the legal system;

·only written law
(legislature) is, at least in theory, recognised as source of law.

The Constitution of the Czech
Republic (hereinafter CCR) (in English), adopted
by the Czech National Council on 16th December 1992 defines the
Czech Republic as a sovereign, unitary, and democratic state governed by the
rule of law, founded on respect for the rights and freedoms of man and of
citizens (Art. 1 (1) CCR).

An important part of the
Constitution and constitutional order generally is the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms
(Art. 3 and Art. 112 (1) CCR). Albeit being in a separate constitutional law,
it has the same force as the Constitution itself.

The political system is a
parliamentary democracy. The head of state is the President of the Republic,
elected in a joint session of both chambers of the Parliament (Art. 54 and f.
CCR). The functions of the head of state are mostly representative; the genuine
power is vested in the prime minister, who is in turn politically responsible
to the Parliament (lower chamber, i.e. the Chamber of Deputies).

The central state power is divided
into the classical three powers, namely:

·legislature = the
Parliament of the Czech Republic, consisting of the lower house (Chamber of
Deputies) and the upper house (the Senate);

·the executive = the
head of state (the president of the Republic) and the government (as the
highest body of the executive power);

·the judiciary = the
courts of general jurisdiction (civil and criminal), administrative courts and
the Constitutional Court.

There are other central bodies,
which enjoy high degree of independence from the central government and cannot
be therefore associated with any of the three classical powers: the Czech
National Bank, the Supreme Auditing Office and the Ombudsman.

There are also territorial
self-governing units: municipalities and regions.

2.1. The Legislative Power

The legislative power is vested in
the Parliament (Art. 15(1) CCR). The Parliament consists of two chambers: the
Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecká sn?movna)
and the Senate (Senát).

The Chamber of Deputies
has 200 members who are elected every four years. The renewal of the Chamber is
always complete. The Chamber holds standing sessions. It elects its Chairperson
and the Vice-chairperson, establishes committees and investigation commissions.
The internal functioning of the Chamber is regulated by the Standing Rules of
the Chamber of Deputies (law no. 90/1995 Coll., in English).

Members of the Chamber of Deputies
are elected by secret ballot on the basis of universal, equal and direct right
to vote, according to the principle of proportional representation.

The upper chamber, the Senate is a permanent body. It is composed of 81 senators, who
are elected to a six-year term of office. Every second year elections for one
third of the senators are held. There is thus partial renewal of the Senate
every 2 years.

Senators are also elected by
secret ballot on the basis of universal, equal and direct right to vote,
however according to the principle of majority rule. The election has normally
two rounds: in the first round, a person is elected who receives total majority
of all votes given (i.e. more than 50% votes). If no one is able to unite the
total majority in the first round, a second round is held; in the second round,
simple majority of votes is sufficient (i.e. the first pass the post system).

The Senate has a stabilising role
in the constitutional system; firstly, because of its permanent session, it is
empowered to adopt legislative measures even when the Chamber of Deputies is
dissolved (Art. 33 CCR). Secondly, because of its continuity, it tends to be a
more moderate body than the Chamber of Deputies. The internal functioning of
the Senate is regulated by the Standing Rules of the Senate (law no. 107/1999
Coll., in English).

2.2. The
Executive

The executive power is shared
between the President of the Republic and the Government.

The President (president republiky) is the head of
state. He/she is elected at a joint meeting of both chambers of the Parliament.
The term of office is 5 years, with one re-election possible.

The powers of the president are
mostly of representative and ceremonial nature. There is a number of powers the
president is entitled to realise acting alone (i.e. without the consent of the
prime minister or the responsible minister). These are contained in Art. 62
CCR.

The president’s powers contained
in Art. 63 CCR and those established by law do, however, require the
countersignature of the Prime Minister or of a member of the government
designated by him. In the case of the exercise of these powers, which are more
numerous than those of the president acting alone, the government is
politically responsible for the decisions of the President.

The first president of the
independent Czech Republic was Václav Havel (1993 – 2003). The second
president, elected in 2003, is Václav Klaus.

The government (vláda) is the highest body of executive
power. It consists of the Prime Minister, deputy prime ministers and ministers.

The government is politically
responsible to the Chamber of Deputies. Following a general election, the President
of the Republic designates a potential Prime Minister. Upon the proposal of the
designated Prime Minister, the President of the Republic appoints other members
of the government and entrusts them with the management of the respective
portfolios. Within 30 days of the appointment, the government as a college
shall go in the Chamber of Deputies and ask it for a vote of confidence (for
the detailed procedure and its variations see Art. 68 CCR).

The government decides as a
college by an absolute majority of all its members.

Members of the Government are
generally at the same time heads of respective ministries. There are not many
members of the government without a ministerial responsibility for a department
(so-called “ministr bez portfeje”).

2.2.3. The Ministries

The ministers are appointed by the
President of the Republic upon the proposal of the Prime Minister. The
President of the Republic will also recall a minister or a member of the
cabinet if the Prime Minister so proposes.

The number and portfolios of
individual ministries are established by a statute (law no. 2/1969 Coll., on
the Establishment of Ministries and Other Central Bodies of State
Administration, as numerously amended). The current number of ministries is 15.
These are:

2.2.4. Other
central authorities under governmental control

There is a considerable number of
other central agencies, established by a statute, that perform vital
administrative tasks. These agencies are not managed by a member of the Government.
Their head is, however, appointed by the government. These agencies include:

2.2.5.
Other central authorities independent of the government

There are other central
authorities, that are, to a high degree, independent of the government. The
bodies are entrusted with realising administrative task sometimes running
against the interests of the government of the day. Their independence is
guaranteed by the special way of appointing the head of the body (typically for
a fixed period of time) and financial independence.

The Supreme Auditing Office
performs audits on the management of state property and the implementation of
the state budget. The president and the vice-president of the Supreme Auditing
Office are appointed by the President of the Republic on the basis of the
nomination made by the Chamber of Deputies. The functioning of the Office is
regulated by law no. 166/1993 Coll., the Supreme Auditing Office Act (in English).

The Czech National Bank is the
state central bank, entrusted with maintaining the price stability, issuing of
banknotes and supervision of banking regulations. Detailed regulation is laid
down by law no. 6/1993 Coll., the Czech National Bank Act.

The office of the Ombudsperson
(the Public Protector of Rights) was created in late 1990 modelled on the
Scandinavian example. The task of the Ombudsperson is to protect people from
administrative malpractice or inactivity. Detailed provisions are contained in
the law no. 349/1999 Coll., the Public Protector of Rights Act (in English).

2.3.
Self-Government

There are two types of
self-government in the Czech Republic: territorial and profession. In both
cases, the central government and the central legislative power (the
Parliament) have delegated certain legislative and executive powers to
specified bodies (cf. chapter 7 of the Constitution of the Czech Republic).

2.3.1. Territorial self-government

Territorial self-government (územní samospráva) is realised on two
levels:

Local communities
(municipalities), which are the basic territorial self-governing units (obce);

The Czech Republic is a unitary
state, which delegates two types of powers to territorial units:

(i)the power of self-administration in certain areas,
where the territorial unit remains free to adopt legislation if it wishes to do
so (area of independent powers of self-administration);

(ii)the exercise of public authority, where the territorial
unit acts in the exercise of public authority and of concrete public competence
and where it is obliged to act following detailed instruction issued by the
central government. In this latter function, territorial units act as a kind of
decentralised bodies of the government (area of the exercise of assigned public
administration).

There are 14 regions. They were
created by the constitutional law no. 347/1997 Coll., on the Creation of Higher
Territorial Self-governing Units (in English). The
composition, functioning and powers of the regions are set by law no. 129/2000
Coll., the Regions Act.

The composition, functioning and
powers of municipalities are laid down by law no. 128/2000 Coll.,
Municipalities Act.

2.3.2.
Professional self-government

Article 105 CCR provides for the
possibility of the state administration being delegated to self-governing
bodies if so provided by a statute. Statutory basis for professional self-governance
(profesní samospráva) can be found in
a number of statutes setting up professional self-regulatory bodies, such as:

The chambers typically exercise certain
degree of disciplinary, ethical and regulatory powers vis-à-vis its
members, with membership being the precondition for the exercise of the
respective regulated profession. Most of the decisions of the bodies of these
chambers can be reviewed at administrative justice.

2.4. The
Judiciary

The basic regulation of the
judicial function in the Czech Republic is provided by law no. 6/2002 Coll.,
Courts, Judges, Lay-judges and the State Administration of Courts Act [the
Judges Act 2002], available in Czech.

There are three distinct
jurisdictions: courts of general jurisdiction, administrative courts and the Constitutional
Court. The two latter are specialised jurisdictions – their competence
must be expressly provided for in law. If no such provision exists, the matter
will be dealt with by the courts of general jurisdiction (civil courts).

There is no trial by jury. There
is, however, the laic participation in the administration of justice in the
form of laypersons sitting as judges in chambers, hearing cases at first
instance. Laypersons are elected by local councils (§ 64 and f. Judges Act
2002). Two lay judges sit with a professional judge, hearing non-specialised
cases at first instance. Appellate and Supreme courts´ chambers are composed of
professional judges only.

The Czech Republic has a system of
career judiciary; this system has, however, been recently modified by the
requirement of 30 years of age for new judges (§ 60 (1) Judges Act 2002). The
judges are appointed by the President of the Republic, following a three year
period of specialised training within the courts. Judges are appointed for life
and can be only removed following disciplinary proceedings conducted by a
special judicial ethics panel, composed of senior judges (cf. law no. 7/2002
Coll., on Disciplinary Proceedings Concerning Judges and Prosecutors).

There is a limited
self-administration of the courts, mostly at the supreme level. The state
administration of courts has repeatedly been criticised on the international as
well as domestic forum (cf. e.g. the decision of the Constitutional Court of 18th
June 2002, case no. Pl.ÚS 7/02, English translation).
The state administration of the courts is exercised by the Ministry of Justice
and involves such crucial elements as the courts´ budgeting or the appointment
of presidents and vice-presidents of the courts (cf. part III of the Judges Act
2002).

The territorial as well as
personal competence of the courts together with the exact address of each court
and other useful information may be found on the server of the Czech judiciary.

2.4.1.
Courts of general jurisdiction

Civil and criminal courts share
the same judicial structure. Together, they form the courts of general
jurisdiction (obecné soudnictví).
They are competent in all type of disputes with the exception of those
expressly reserved for the administrative courts or the Constitutional Court.

The structure, functions and
powers of the courts of general jurisdiction are regulated by law no. 6/2002
Coll., the Judges Act 2002.

The structure of the courts is as
follows:

Supreme Court
located in Brno;

2 High Courts
located in Praha and Olomouc;

8 Regional courts located
in all the regional centres;

86 District courts.

As far as the access to the
case-law of the courts of general jurisdiction is concerned, only the decisions
of the Supreme Court are published. Firstly, there is the official selection of
the Court’s case-law, published in its Collection of the decisions of the
Supreme Court published by C.H.Beck Publishers.
All decisions of the Court (from 2000 onwards) are also accessible electronically.

The decisions of lower courts are
not published, apart from occasional case-notes in one of the legal
periodicals.

Civil Justice

Apart from the Judges Act 2002,
the most important piece of legal regulation in civil matters is the law no.
99/1963 Coll., the Code of Civil Justice [CCivJ], in Czech, or alternately here.

The general courts of first
instance are the district courts. In enumerated cases (Art. 9 CCivJ), the
courts of first instance are regional courts. The list of cases when regional
courts act as courts of first instance is quite long and complex, the most
important cases are:

slander, libel and
generally disputes in matters of personal reputation;

copyright and
intellectual property;

commercial law
disputes, arising under the provisions of the law no. 513/1991 Coll.,
Commercial Code;

bankruptcy;

cheques, bills of
exchange, commercial instruments and their derivates.

Regional courts decide on appeals
(odvolání) against the decisions of
district courts rendered on the first instance. In cases where the court of
first instance is the regional court, the appellate court is one of the two
High Courts.

The Supreme Courts decides, as the
court of third and last instance, about extraordinary appeals (dovolání) against the final decisions of
regional or high courts, acting as appellate courts. This type of extraordinary
remedy should be limited to cases of general legal significance (cf. Art. 237
CCivJ).

Criminal Justice

The procedural norm in the area of
criminal justice is law no. 141/1961 Coll., the Code of Criminal Justice
(CCrimJ), in Czech. A special
procedural regime was recently introduced for criminal liability of persons
under 15 years of age (law no 218/2003 Coll., Juvenile Criminal Justice Act).

The courts of first instance in
criminal matters are generally district courts. If, however, the criminal
offence is punishable by at least 5 years imprisonment, the courts of first
instance become the regional courts.

An appeal against the
first-instance decision of the district court goes to the regional court.
Appeals against decisions rendered on the first instance by regional courts are
assessed by a High Court on appeal.

The Supreme Court decides on
extraordinary appeals (dovolání)
against final appellate decisions of regional courts and high courts. An
extraordinary appeal should be limited to questions of law only. There is
another special remedy in criminal matters before the Supreme Court, the so-called
complaint of illegality (stížnost pro
porušení zákona). Only the Minister of Justice is entitled to file this
extraordinary remedy before the Supreme Court; its availability is limited to
substantial flaws in the procedure, which may have caused the illegality of a
(otherwise final) decision (§ 266 CCrimJ).

2.4.2.
Administrative courts

Administrative judiciary (správní soudnictví) is a two-layer
system: specialised administrative chambers within regional courts act as
courts of first instance. The court of second and last instance is the Supreme Administrative Court (Nejvyšší správní soud), seated in Brno.

The organisation of the
administrative justice is laid down in the law n. 150/2002 Coll., the Code of
Administrative Justice (English translation),
[CAJ 2002].

Specialised chambers of regional
courts are the administrative courts of first instance. The general remedy
against a final decision of a court of first instance in administrative matters
is the cassation complaint , which is dealt with by the Supreme Administrative
Court (§ 102 and f. CAJ 2002).

The task of the administrative
courts is to protect individual rights in the area of public law. The task is
realised in 4 main types of proceeding (cf. § 4 CAJ 2002):

judicial
protection against unlawful administrative acts taken by public
authorities (judicial review of administrative acts);

protection against
the inaction of the public authority;

protection against
unlawful interference of an public authority into the protected sphere of
an individual, where however no formal administrative decision is taken;

Competence conflicts between the
administrative court and the courts of general jurisdiction (civil courts) are
resolved by a special judicial panel composed of equal number of justices of
the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court. Further details are set
by law no. 131/2002 Coll., on Deciding Certain Conflicts over Competence (in Czech).

The decisions of the Supreme
Administrative Court are published in two ways. Firstly, there is the official Collection
of the Decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court (Sbírka rozhodnutí Nejvyššího správního soudu), which the Court
publishes monthly in a paper edition in cooperation with ASPI Publishers. This Collection contains
a selection of crucial decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court. Secondly,
the Court’s decisions are also made publicly available (in Czech only) on the website of the Court.

2.4.3.
The Constitutional Court

The constitutional jurisdiction is
represented by one specialised Constitutional Court (Ústavní soud), seated in Brno. The basic provisions concerning the
functioning of the Constitutional Court are contained in Articles 83 – 89
CCR. Detailed provisions are to be found in the law no. 182/1993 Coll. - the
Constitutional Court Act (English translation).

The structure and functions of the
Czech Constitutional Court are, similarly to its Austrian and German
counterparts, rooted in the Kelsenian conception of constitutional
jurisdictions and constitutional review. The then Czechoslovak Constitutional
Court, founded already in 1919, was one of the first constitutional courts
worldwide.

The contemporary Czech
Constitutional Court is the judicial body responsible for the protection of
constitutionality (Art. 83 CCR). It is composed of fifteen justices appointed
for a period of ten years (re-appointment possible). The justices are appointed
by the president of the Republic with the consent of the Senate.

There are various types of
procedure before the Constitutional Court (cf. Art. 87 CCR). The most important
ones are twofold: the “abstract” and the “concrete” review of
constitutionality.

In both cases, the Constitutional
Court reviews the compatibility of an act with the constitutionally guaranteed
basic rights and fundamental freedoms. The difference is the type of act
subjected to review: “abstract” review
is concerned with statutes which are in conflict with the constitutional order,
no application onto the individual case being necessary. The number of
potential applicants in this type of review is limited to state authorities:
the president of the Republic, a group of deputies or senators or the
government.

The second type of review of
constitutionality is the “concrete”
review: this is realised in the form of decisions over constitutional
complaints against final decisions or other encroachments by public authorities
infringing constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights and basic freedoms.
In this type of proceeding, any type of an act or omission of a public
authority or judicial decision can be challenged.

The decisions of the Constitutional
Court are published in the official collection of decisions of the Court (Sbírka nález? a usnesení Ústavního soudu),
published by the C.H.Beck Publishers, Prague. The Court’s
jurisprudence is also available for free online,
unfortunately only in Czech. There is, however, a representative selection of the Court’s
judgments translated into English.

3. The Legal Order

The Czech legal system is a civil
law system. It can be grouped within the Germanic continental legal culture.

The substantial areas of law are
codified. The main codes are:

The Civil Code – law no. 40/1964 Coll. [CivC] – is the basic code,
providing foundations for all the area of private law and the legal system
generally, containing provisions on legal personality and subjects of
legal relations, legal rights and obligations, types of obligations and
contracts, unjust enrichment, civil liability, succession.

The Commercial Code – law no. 513/1991 Coll. [ComC] – regulates the
relationships between undertakings and commercial activity generally,
types of commercial contracts and obligations, law of companies (types,
incorporation, company rules, dissolution), some special provisions on
liability in commercial transactions and competition law.

The Code of Civil Justice - law no. 99/1963 Coll.[CCivJ] – basic code of judicial
procedure containing the rules for the courts of general jurisdiction
acting in civil and commercial cases.

The Code of Criminal Justice - law no. 141/1961 Coll. [CCrimJ] – contains procedural
rules for the investigation, prosecution and execution of sanctions in
matters falling under the Criminal Code.

The Code of Administrative
Procedure – law no. 500/2004 Coll. [CAP] –
codifies the rules of procedure for administrative authorities when
deciding on individual rights of natural and legal persons in the area of
public administration.

The Code of Administrative
Justice - law n. 150/2002 Coll. [CAdminJ] – lays down
the jurisdiction and competence of administrative courts acting in
administrative justice, i.e. protecting individual public rights against
unlawful decision or inactivity of public administration.

3.1. Sources
of law

Sources of law are nowhere fully or
exhaustively listed. The sources of law and their hierarchy are discerned by
the legal doctrine and followed by the practice and in the case-law.

The legal order is assorted in a
pyramidal-type structure (the Kelsenian pyramid of norms), where the lower
levels of the pyramid have to be compatible with the higher.

The structure is as follows:

Constitution and
constitutional laws (including the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic
Freedoms)

International
treaties ratified by the Parliament (Art. 10 CCR)

Statutes adopted
by the Parliament

Derived
legislation (adopted by the government and ministries)

Legislative acts
of self-regulated entities (territorial as well as professional)

Since the Czech Republic’s
accession to the European Union, Community law and its legislative sources
(primary law, secondary law – regulation, directives, decisions etc) also
became part of the Czech legal order.

3.2. Legislation

3.2.1.
Types of legislation

The various types of legislation
are distinguished by two key elements:

Who adopts the
legislative act?

The Parliament
– constitutional laws, ratification of some international treaties,
laws;

The government,
various ministries or state central bodies – orders and regulations
(derived legislation);

Self-governing
units (derived legislation).

What majority (or
legislative procedure) is required for the adoption of the legislation?
This distinction applies mostly to the Parliament, where various
legislation may be adopted with different legislative majority being
required:

Constitutional
majority – the concurring will of three-fifths of all the members
of the Chamber of Deputies and three-fifths of all members of the Senate
present (Art. 39 (4) CRR);

Qualified
majority in both chambers – the concurrence of an absolute majority
of all Deputies and an absolute majority of all Senators (Art. 39 (3)
CCR);

Consent of both
Chambers – only simple majority in both Chambers is necessary, but
both have to agree on the bill, i.e. the Chamber of Deputies cannot
outvote the Senate (Art. 40 CCR);

Simple majority
– simple majority of the present and voting members of each chamber
is required, one-third of the members of each chamber constituting a
quorum (Art. 39 CRR);

Simple majority
in Senate only (Art. 33 CCR).

Constitutional laws (ústavní zákony) are legislative acts of the highest force. They are
passed by a special majority being necessary in both Chambers of Parliament and
with the agreement of both chambers (the concurrence of three-fifths of all
Deputies and three fifths of all senators present – Art. 39 (4) CRR).

There is a plurality of
constitutional laws (i.e. not a single constitutional document), all the
constitutional laws forming the so-called constitutional order (ústavní po?ádek) of the Czech Republic
(Art. 112 CCR).

The most important constitutional
laws are:

Constitutional law
no. 1/1993 Coll., the Constitution of the Czech Republic, in English;

Resolution no.
2/1993 Coll. of the Presidium of the Czech National Council of 16 December
1992 on the declaration of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic
Freedoms as a part of the constitutional order of the Czech Republic, in English;

Constitutional law
no. 110/1998 Sb., on the Security of the Czech Republic, in English;

Constitutional law
no. 347/1997 Coll., on the Creation of Higher Territorial Self-Governing
Units, in English.

International treaties ratified
under Art. 10 CCR take precedence over simple laws. This means that in the case
of conflict between a provision of a law and a provision of an international
treaty adopted under Art. 10 CCR, the latter shall prevail. The most important
treaty in this category is the Council of Europe’s Convention for the Protection
of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Laws (zákony) are the universal form of decision making adopted by the
Parliament. For a law to be adopted, the simple majority of the present members
in the Chamber of Deputies and the simple majority of present senators (i.e.
simple majority in both houses) are required (Art. 39 (1) and (2) CCR).

In the legislative process leading
to the adoption of a simple law, the political will of the Chamber of Deputies
is decisive. If, in the course of this legislative procedure, the Senate
rejects a bill, the Chamber of Deputies can uphold the bill and pass it against
the will of the Senate by an absolute majority of all Deputies (Art. 47 CCR). The
same goes for the veto of the President of the Republic, which can also be
overturned and the bill approved by an absolute majority of the all the
Deputies (Art. 50 (2) CCR).

Consent laws are special sort of
laws, for the adoption of which is basically required the concurrence of the
will of both chambers, i.e. the Chamber of Deputies cannot overturn the
negative vote in the Senate. These are types of laws are provided in Art. 39
(3) CCR and Art. 40 CRR (by absolute majority and qualified majority
respectively) and include issues such as electoral laws, laws concerning the
principles of dealings and relations of both chambers, movements of troops or
declaration of war.

Senate’s legislative measures are a
special type of legislation with the force of law (Art. 33 CCR). Their purpose
is to keep the legislative power of the Czech Republic operational even if the
Chamber of Deputies is dissolved. Should such a situation arise, the Senate is
empowered to adopt legislative measures concerning matters which cannot be
delayed and which would otherwise require the adoption of a law. The
legislative measures of the Senate must be ratified by the Chamber of Deputies
at its first meeting. Should they not be ratified, they cease to be in force.
This special type of legislative acts has, however, not yet been used.

Government orders are a form of derived
legislation, adopted by the government as a college. Albeit being a form of
derived legislation, an express provision authorising the government to adopt a
precise order is not necessary. The government is entitled to pass orders of
its own motion, provided that the orders are strictly limited to the
implementation of the laws and that they remain within the bounds thereof (cf.
Art. 78 CCR).

Regulations (vyhlášky) – are the other principle form of derived
legislation, adopted by the ministries and other central administrative bodies
or self-governing bodies. Unlikely the government orders, regulations can be
issued only upon an express empowerment contained in the respective law. They
must of course also stay within the bounds of the law (Art. 79 (3) CCR).

3.2.2.
Legislative process

The legislative process varies
according to the type of legislation adopted. If concentrating on the
legislative process in the Parliament (i.e. adoption of laws), all the bills (návrhy zákon?) are introduced in the
Chamber of Deputies. Bills may be introduced by Deputies, groups of Deputies,
the Senate, the government, or representative bodies of higher self-governing
territorial units (i.e. regions) (Art. 42 CCR). In practice, the great majority
of the bills are introduced by the government.

The detailed provisions of the
(floor) debate in both chambers of the Parliament are regulated by the Rules of
Procedure of both chambers (by law no. 90/1995 Coll., Standing Rules of the
Chamber of Deputies Act, in English, and by law
no. 107/1999 Coll., Standing Rules of the Senate Act, in English,
respectively).

3.2.3. Promulgation and
publication of the legislation

For legislation to be valid, it
must be duly promulgated first (Art. 52 CRR). The mode of promulgation of
legislation is laid down by the law no. 309/1999 Coll., the Collection of Laws
and the Collection of International Treaties Act. Generally speaking, all the
abstract legal acts of general application must be published in the Collection
of Laws. All the international laws by which the Czech Republic is bound must
be published in the Collection of International Treaties, where the
authoritative foreign version, as well as the Czech version, is published
simultaneously.

If an act is published in the
Collection of laws (Sbírka zákonu,
abbreviated in Czech as “Sb.”), the standard form of citation is:

“number of the
document”/”year of the publication” Coll.

The number of every document is
unique. The document number 1/1993 Coll. thus refers to the first document
published in the Collection of laws in the year 1993, which was the
Constitution of the Czech Republic. The publication in the Collection of
International Treaties (Sbírka
mezinárodních smluv, abbreviated in Czech as “Sb.m.s.”) follows the same
numbering principles.

3.3. Case law

From the traditional continental
dogmatic point of view, case law is not a recognised source of law. This
perception still holds true of the Czech legal theory. In practice, however,
the decisions of the courts, especially the decisions of Supreme Courts and the
Constitutional Court, shape the legal system considerably.

From the 1989 onwards, there is an
undeniable and continuous rise of the importance of case law in the Czech legal
system.

3.4. Legal
Doctrine

Legal doctrine is not a source of
law in the Czech legal system.

4. Legal
Education and Legal Professions

4.1. Law
schools and legal education

The general legal programme
offered by the Czech law public law schools is the 5 year lasting M.A. (magistr, abbreviated with Mgr. before
the name). It is the qualifying degree and the minimal requirement for any traditional
legal profession (attorney, prosecutor, judge).

Higher degrees are the JUDr. (iuris utrisque doctor, so-called “small”
doctorate in law, written before the name) and the research degree of Ph.D (“normal”
doctorate in law, written after the name). The small doctorate is obtained by
submitting a written piece of work anytime after completing the Magister. The
normal doctorate is obtained by research and after submitting a dissertation.
Other academic titles one may encounter especially with more senior lawyers are
the CSc. (Candidate of Science) or the higher degree of DrSc. (Doctor of
Science), both written after the name. These titles are no longer awarded.

The Czech law faculties will
gradually be obliged to implement the Bologna model of higher education
consisting of 3 years Bachelor, 2 years Master and 3 years Doctorate.

There are 4 public law schools
that offer full legal education: Praha (Prague), Brno, Plze? (Pilsen) and
Olomouc. There are also some private law schools in Prague, Brno and Karlovy
Vary. These however lack the state accreditation for providing full magister
education in law. They offer only bachelor education in law, often accredited
by foreign educational institutions.

The Charles University Law Faculty is the oldest and can be said
to be the most respected law school in the Czech Republic. The University (together
with its Faculty of Law) was founded in 1348. It is the oldest then German
speaking university northern the Alps (more historical information).
The current student body numbers about 5,000.

The Masaryk University Law Faculty was founded in 1919. Its name
is derived from the first Czechoslovak president, T.G. Masaryk. The faculty was
closed down in 1950 by the Communist regime and re-established in 1969 at the
time of the so-called Prague Spring. The faculty has been, especially in the
last few years, a more dynamic institution than the Charles University Law
Faculty. The faculty comprises about 3.000 students.

The Palacky University Law Faculty was originally
founded in 1566, closed however in 1860. The University was re-established in
1947, the Law Faculty in 1991. The current number of students is about 1300.

The Anglo-American College School
of Law is a private institution of higher education based in Prague.
It runs a BA(Hons) in Comparative Law, which is validated by the University of
Wales.

Apart from the teaching institutions,
there is also the Institute of State and Law within the Czech
Academy of Science. The Institute is a research-only institution.

There is a special institution
established for the continuing education of judges and prosecutors, the Judicial Academy (Justi?ní
akademie) located in Krom??íž.

4.2. The Legal Professions

4.2.1. Attorney (advokát)

Attorneys provide individuals with
legal services for remuneration. The provision of legal services means
representation before a court of law and other authorities, defence in criminal
cases, granting legal advice, drawing up legal papers, processing legal
analyses and other forms of legal aid if carried out systematically and for a
fee.

An attorney is a person who
completed a master’s degree in law followed by a 3 years of professional
training with a senior attorney and successfully passed the bar exam. The list
of attorneys entitled to practice may be viewed here.

The exercise of the profession is
regulated by the law no. 85/1996 Coll., on the Legal Profession (in English).

4.2.2.
Public prosecutor (státní zástupce)

Public prosecutor represents the
state (public interest) in criminal proceedings.

Public prosecutors are appointed
following a 5 years study of law (magister), 3 years period of training and a
professional exam.

The functions, organisation and
hierarchy of the public prosecution are laid down in law no. 283/1993 Coll.,
Public Prosecutor’s Office Act.

4.2.3.
Public notary (notá?)

Public notary is a private person
entrusted with the public office of notary, which entails activities like the
drawing of deeds and documents of sale of land, verification and legalisation
of documents etc.

The profession is regulated by law
no. 358/1992 Coll., Public Notaries and their Functions Act.

4.2.4. Judge (soudce)

Judges are appointed by the
President of the Republic, following 5 years of legal studies (magister), 3
years of legal clerkship and the successful pass of judicial examinations. A
judge must be at the time of his/her appointment at least 30 years old. The list of current judges
may be viewed online.

4.2.5.
Executor (exekutor)

A new legal profession, created by
the law no 120/2001 Coll., On Judicial Executors and Executions. Executor is a
private person entrusted with the enforcement of civil and commercial judicial
decisions and awards.

The access to the profession is
conditional upon having completed 5 years degree in law (magister), 3 years of
professional training and a successful pass of the professional exam.

There is the
official printed selection of the Court’s case-law, published in its
Collection of the decisions of the Supreme Court (Soubor rozhodnutí Nejvyššího soudu), published by C.H.Beck Publishers.

All decisions of the Supreme Court (from 2000 onwards)
are also accessible electronically online.